May 5, 2018

Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14, 1945, when the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration (the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender). The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth.

Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan. This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power. The country became a parliamentary democracy that recalled "New Deal" priorities of the 1930s by Roosevelt.

The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's sovereignty – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was fully restored.

These amazing photos from m20wc51 that captured everyday life of Tokyo in the early Postwar Occupation of Japan in 1945 and 1946.

Tokyo street scene

Tokyo street scene

Traffic jam

Ueno Station

Ueno Toshogu Torii

Young Japanese beauty

Yusen Building, Marunouchi

An open-air market in Tokyo

Central Zone of Tokyo

Classic beauty, the writing may say 'Maria'

Crowd in Tokyo

Destruction in Tokyo

Ginza market

Ginza, Tokyo

Ginza, Tokyo

Hibiya Cinema Theatre

Hibiya Hall

Imperial Hotel

Imperial Hotel

Jeeps in front of the Dai-Ichi Building

Kabuki-Za, Ginza

Kokugikan (Sumo Hall)

Local hardware store at a market

Massive crowds of people on the streets of Ginza near the Nichigeki Theatre

Meiji Life Insurance Building

NYK Building (right), and Tokyo Kaijo Building (left)

Oasis of Ginza

Pagoda in Ueno Park

SanShin Building, Hibiya

SanShin Building, Hibiya

Shirokiya Department Store

Street scenes of Ginza

Street scenes of Ginza

Takashimaya Department Store

The American Red Cross club in Tokyo

The caption on the back is 'American dance hall in downtown Tokyo. Japanese girls'

The caption on the back is 'Most cars are this size'

The Dai-Ichi Building

The Dai-Ichi Building

The Dai-Ichi Building

The Hattori Clock Company Building

The Meiji Seimei Kan Life Insurance Building on Hibiya Dori in Marunouchi